


The Inky Reel: Behind the Scenes of "Bendy and the Ink Machine"

by LukaHartman



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe, Filming, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2019-09-20 02:12:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17013594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LukaHartman/pseuds/LukaHartman
Summary: What if "Bendy and the Ink Machine" was not a game, but a filmed miniseries, taking place in a world where humans and toons (and puppets) coexist?





	1. Callback

**Author's Note:**

> Down on his luck, struggling artist/actor Henry Ross receives a life-changing opportunity.

Henry trudged through the door and tossed the new hire packet onto his dining table. A new life of minimum wage Hell as Dude's Pizza's newest delivery driver would start tomorrow.

Between gigs that only paid him in exposure, if they even bothered to call him back, and a meager two hundred-something Twitter followers that contributed a whopping six dollars to his Patreon every month, Henry's career as an artist and actor was a little... nonexistent. Instead of delivering fifty-dollar commissions to his adoring fans, he would be delivering eight-dollar pizzas to half-conscious stoners.

His phone buzzed ominously in his pocket. Surely it was his new boss asking him to come in right the hell now because the night driver didn't show up. He took the call with a groan.

“Yeah?”

“Hello, Mister Ross?” Said a voice that reminded Henry of Kermit the Frog. He didn't remember his boss sounding like that.

“Uh, yeah, that's me,” Henry said, “Can I ask who's calling?”

“It's Meatly, from _Bendy and the Ink Machine._ ”

As if being stuck delivering pizzas wasn't bad enough, here came another acting rejection to kick Henry while he was down. But Meatly was a nice guy, or rather, a nice puppet, so Henry didn't want to be surly to him.

“Oh, right, right, what's up?”

“Well, Mister Ross, we've reviewed all of the candidates who auditioned for the role of Henry...”

_And we've decided to go in a different direction._ Henry braced himself for that painful euphemism.

“...And I'm happy to say that the part is all yours!”

Henry couldn't speak.

“Are you still there?”

Henry responded with a cheer too loud for his neighbors' liking.

“I suppose you'll be accepting the role, then?”

“I'm sorry, you've just made my day. I will absolutely be there the whole way!”

“Great! We will have a deal memo ready for you if you can come by the studio at three-thirty PM next Monday.”

“That works for me. I'll see you then!”

Henry had one more call to make after hanging up.

“Hey, Mister Rogers? It's Henry Ross. You're going to need a new delivery boy.”


	2. Derek Valentine

Derek Valentine gazed over the deal memo in front of him like he was questioning its existence. He never thought an opportunity like this would come to him so soon after getting his life back on track. He just had one tiny problem with the situation:

“So I sign this and become the world’s biggest jerk, eh?” He said across the desk to Meatly, who let a big laugh from his tiny puppet body.

“Oh, come on! I'm sure you'll make Joey Drew a bit more than that.”

“I dunno, the script gets pretty heavy. I hope whoever's playing Henry won't grow to hate me!”

“Nah, the guy we cast is pretty cool. Funny enough, his name is also Henry.”

Derek felt a chill.

“Henry... who?”

“Excuse me?”

“Last name. Did you catch his last name?”

“Uh... Henry Ross. Why?”

“I... I knew him.”

“Well, what a funny coincidence!”

“Ahaha... Yeah...”

“Mister Valentine, are you OK?”

“Yeah, I'm fine! I'll be fine.” 

“OK then. Well, keep an eye on your e-mail. We'll let everyone know about the first table read very soon.”

“Thank you, have you good day.” Derek blurted as he walked quickly out the door.

Meatly reached over for Derek's deal memo.

“Oh whoops. He forgot to sign it.”


	3. Table Read

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek faces an old friend and some new co-workers for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking a while to upload, my mental health took a nose dive. I'm doing better than before now and will make sure to upload more frequently!

Derek got off the bus with a grumble. His emotions were heavy but his wallet was light.

“I swear, the fare gets more and more ridiculous every year...” he muttered to himself.

But Derek had other feelings whirling in his head. He was glad to finally be on a project that was paying him properly. But he'd also be facing a friend he hadn't seen in years. He hoped he wasn't still angry with him. He hoped he'd be able to say what he wanted to say to him.

He hoped he wouldn't be late.

He entered the library with his phone in hand, checking his e-mail for the room number that the Bendy and the Ink Machine table read would be taking place in. But his neglect to charge his phone the night before caught up with him, as his e-mail was nothing more than a black screen.

Derek's blood froze. His blood had been doing that a lot when it came to this damn project. He didn't remember which room to find, and now he questioned if he was even in the right library. But straight ahead, there was a service desk with no line. Maybe the information would be on the library's computers.

Derek approached the librarian, an older woman who seemed fixated on her monitor. “Uhm, excuse me? What room is the table read in?”

She looked at him like he had asked a confusing question, because he had. “Table read?” She asked flatly.

Derek wasn't sure what more she needed. Surely the library didn't schedule something called a “table read” every day. “You know, the table read. For the film project.”

He knew he still hadn't gotten through to her. “I can look up the bookings for our meeting spaces if that's what you need.”

Derek resisting sighing. “Yeah, thanks.”

Neither of them said anything.

“What's the name of this film?”

Damn it, Derek was still screwing this up. “Bendy and the Ink Machine.”

The librarian looked at him like he needed Jesus. “...Bendy and the Kink Machine? Is that a smut film?”

“Ma'am, please! I'm going to be late!” Derek shouted.

“Sir, please, we're in a library.” The librarian said for the umpteenth time in her life.

Derek felt like he screamed. He hoped he didn't.

After a few moments, the librarian looked back at her computer, resigned to fulfilling her job description of resolving every customer's problems, no matter how obnoxious they were.

“Bendy and the Kink Machine, was it?” She typed as she spoke.

“It's Ink Machine.” Derek held down his urge to shout again.

She stopped typing. “Oh.” Derek couldn't see her screen, but he heard her deleting and retyping the search terms.

“Alright sir, there is a Bendy and the Ink Machine meeting booked in Meeting Room 3.”

“Thank you.” Derek groaned to her louder than he should have as he made a beeline for Meeting Room 3.

Wait, where the hell was Meeting Room 3? Derek had rushed through the maze of hallways and bookshelves as if he knew where it was, and now he didn't know where he was.

Derek spotted a sign hanging from the ceiling as he happened to glance up. Meeting Room 1-6, it read, displaying a “straight ahead” arrow. He had forgotten that signs were a thing.

Derek followed the doors along the wall to his left, finally reaching the home stretch as he passed Meeting Room 2, followed by Meeting Rooms 4 and 6. Huh? Where was Room 3? Derek turned back and checked again. There was no Room 3. There was no sign of Rooms 1 or 5 either. Did he unknowingly walk into a universe where odd numbers didn't exist?

As he scanned the doors in front of him that did not lead to where he needed to go, Derek heard muffled group laughter behind him. He turned around to find the door to Meeting Room 3 on the opposite side of the hallway, with several people inside. Oops.

He hoped he wasn't late.

Derek gingerly opened the door to find six pairs of eyes laser-focused on him, all sitting on one side of the large table as if they had purposely arranged themselves to all face Derek as he entered. It was certain that...

“You're late!” a little Toon demon barked, pointing at Derek as he stood on his chair.

“Bendy, don't be rude.” A tall Toon wolf did not bark as one might expect, but it was close.

Derek was definitely in the right room, but he wished he wasn't. The two Toons were clearly Bendy and Boris, as he had read in the script. To their left, at the center of the table, was Meatly, the director and a puppet.

“Hi Derek!” Meatly said in his typical non-threatening tone. “Did you have trouble getting here?”

“Like you wouldn't believe.” Derek sighed.

Meatly reached for the small stack of packets in front of him and grabbed one. “Don't worry about it, we haven't started yet. I've got a script for you if you'll have a seat.”

“Thanks.” Derek pulled out a chair and plopped down, instantly regretting not looking first.

“Hey buddy, long time no see.” Said the man next to Derek. It was Henry, and he was definitely mad. Derek just knew it. His soft smile and quiet tone were not fooling him.

“Uh, hi, Henry.” Derek tried to wave at his old friend.

“Do I smell a reunion?” A young man with glasses and a nasally voice beamed. “Iiit's a small world-”

“Toby, do not sing that song again!” Bendy shouted. Derek wished he were on that ride and away from here. But the only thing stopping Derek from running and forgetting about this project was that it paid.

Henry chuckled at the man who seemed to be named Toby. “Yeah, it is.” He glanced at Derek. “Derek and I may as well have been brothers. But the next thing I knew, you just disappeared.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Derek raised an invisible shield. “I had... a lot of issues to sort out.”

Why the hell did he say that? Now everyone was going to be here all day, and Henry was surely going to explode at him again. Why did Derek open his stupid mouth?

“Oh.” Henry said. “Well, I hope you're better now.”

Derek clearly wasn't. But Henry, for some reason, seemed to be. Maybe it was just out of professionalism, but Henry didn't stab him as soon as he walked into the room. Derek didn't even notice Henry at first. Maybe Derek was just being a nervous wreck like usual. Maybe this project won't be a living Hell with Henry after all. But Derek wasn't kidding when he said what he said to Henry and to everyone else in the room.

“Hey, are you doing okay?” Bendy snapped Derek back into reality. “You're looking kind of funny.”

Derek half-covered his mustache. “Oh, uh, sorry. I guess it does look kind of funny when I haven't trimmed in a while.”

Nobody spoke for what felt like forever.

Maybe the mustache wasn't what Bendy was talking about.

Someone snorted. Derek jumped.

“Derek, don't change!” Henry wheezed with laughter.

Derek turned a soft red and chuckled.

“You too.” He wanted to say, but he kept it in his head.

“Alright guys,” Meatly said, “we don't have the room forever. Let's get this going now that everyone's here.”

“Finally. I've had enough mush for one day.” An older and rougher looking man scoffed.

Henry opened up his script. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Welcome to today's...” Meatly tried to stand up, but he couldn't even see over the table like that. He climbed back up onto his chair and just stood on it before continuing.

“Welcome to today's table read for Chapter One of the Bendy and the Ink Machine miniseries. As the cast of Chapter One, we are all here to read through the script and point out what works and what needs work before we shoot in a couple of weeks. Let's all introduce ourselves, starting from my left.” Meatly gestured to Toby.

“Yo.” Toby said. “I'm Toby Walsh, and I'm playing Wally Franks. This is the closest I'll ever want to get to being a janitor.”

The gruff old man went next. “I'm Val Moreno, playing Thomas Connor, the repair man.”

The focus turned to Henry. “My name is Henry Ross, and I'm playing Henry. Just Henry, I guess. I feel like we won't see his full name until it's on his tombstone.”

Derek chuckled. “Oh, lord.”

The room fell silent. Did Derek say something wrong? Oh, wait, it was his turn now.

Derek almost scrambled to stand up. “Uh, hi. I'm Derek Valentine, and I'm playing the cartoonist-slash-madman Joey Drew!”

The Toon wolf gripped his overall straps like a caricature of a farmer. “Howdy. I'm Boris the Wolf, playing... a sliced-up version of myself. As such, I ain't got much to say.”

“It's okay Boris, you can read the stage directions.” Meatly said.

Boris shrugged. “Fine by me.”

The Toon demon stood in his chair again. “And I'm Bendy, the Little Devil Darlin'! No joke; it's in the script!”

“Hey, wait a freakin' minute!” Toby shouted. “Bendy, is the movie named after you, or are you named after the movie?”

“Yeah, it's named after me.” Bendy shrugged. “The Toon Actor's Guild requires it.”

“Just like how it's my name in the script too.” Said Boris. “I guess I can't complain. It's kind of a dumb rule, but the benefits of being in the union are worth it.”

Meatly opened up his script. “Alright everyone, let's get back on track. Boris, if you could start from the top of page one, please.”

The reading went off without a hitch. The longer that Henry went without giving Derek a hard time for the past, the more that Derek felt his anxiety about his old friend slip away. Maybe Derek wouldn't have such a hard time saying what he needed to say to him.

“...Henry limps into the room.” Boris read out loud. “A decagram is etched on the floor, surrounded by candles. The walls are lined with coffins. Henry collapses. Cut to black as he hits the floor.”

The reading was adjourned. A collective rush of excitement and relief flooded the room as everyone got up and Meatly announced the date of the first shoot, reminding everyone to keep an eye on their e-mail. Derek made a mental note to be better about charging his phone before bed.

Henry extended his hand to Derek. “It's great to see you again, buddy. I was pretty thrilled when Meatly told me who he cast as Joey Drew.”

“Really?” Derek said, slowly grabbing and shaking Henry's hand.

“I mean, I never thought I was gonna see you again, but here you are, turning up in the same project with me. Maybe there's a reason for it.”

A part of Derek wanted to spill everything right now, but he thought it might just drive Henry away. “Ha, yeah, maybe.”

“Hey, let's go grab food, or maybe a drink. Do you have time?”

“Shoot!” Derek whipped his phone out. “Oh no, I forgot my phone was dead! Do you have the time?”

Henry looked at his own phone. “Uh, yeah, it's a little after 4. Are you late for something?”

“Okay, I should be able to catch my bus. Actually, Henry, if it isn't too much trouble, I might need a ride to the studio when we start shooting.”

“Hm? Don't you have a car?”

“Not anymore, and I can't afford a new one. I've been taking the bus for these past few years and the fare is getting ridiculous. I may not be able to afford the bus at this rate!”

“Oh, if it'll help you save money, sure. Why not? Where do you live?”


	4. House Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry goes to pick up Derek for the first shoot, difficulties ensue.

"Dammit Derek, why can't you have a car like a normal person?"

Henry had been on the road for 40 minutes. It'd be another 40 before he got to Derek's house. The constant clattering of the hail was starting to get on his nerves. This was not what Henry pictured when Derek told him that he lived just outside the city. But Henry was trying to rekindle his friendship with Derek and that's what friends do; they inconvenience each other. He hoped that Derek would return the favor at some point. 

Henry pulled up to Derek's house an hour later. He zeroed in on the door, completely done with distractions and delays. He knocked.

Nothing. 

He knocked again.

Silence.

"Great." Henry hissed as he pressed his forehead against the door. Then he noticed something he didn't see on the door on his way to it. A note. It read as such:

Henry,  
If you read this and tried knocking, use the spare key under the mat.  
-Derek

He looked at the mat, _now_ completely done with distractions and delays, he picked up the key and opened the door. Immediately, he saw some familiar items from Derek's old home. Framed motivational quotes written in gold ink, a mint couch worn with age and tear, old poetry books and novels well read. But what caught Henry's eye and what gave him a rather warm surprise was an old photo of the two of them. He recognized everything in that picture from the field they took the photo in to Derek's shirt. That shirt. The flowers on it. Henry gave him that.

"Did..." Henry started to whisper to himself. His eyes fixated on the laughing grins on their faces.

"Did he keep this? After all this time? I wonder if he still has that shirt..." he could feel his voice start to sink and his eyes slightly mist.

Then his trance was interrupted by a muffled snore. He quickly got rid of any trace of his eyes tearing up and walked to where he heard the snoring. He found that it was coming from behind a door with a framed picture of the word "Office".

Henry regretted opening the door without knocking. He found Derek sprawled out on a futon, mouth agape as he snored and probably stark naked. Good thing he's covered from the waist down...

Henry was not nearly awake enough for this nonsense. He rolled his eyes and stared down at Derek like a disappointed teacher.

"Derek... _Derek_." Henry barked. 

Derek shook himself awake and looked at Henry groggily. Then he went wide-eyed.

"How did you get into my house!?" Derek shrieked. He then realized how cold he was. It took no time at all to realize he was naked. He covered himself with his blanket and bolted to his room, needing a few tries to shut the door.

Henry had had enough for one morning. He was not driving Derek to the set anymore after this.

Derek came out of his room too many minutes later.

"I'm sorry, my life is was a complete mess and I'm just starting to get it together." Derek said with an embarrassed laugh, "I'm not normally like this." He then walked to the kitchen and gestured Henry to follow him.

"But, to make up for that, I made us breakfast." Derek said as he gave Henry a breakfast sandwich, "It's probably not as warm though since I made it a few minutes ago. Sorry."

Henry didn't even realize how hungry he was when Derek mentioned breakfast. He was just about done with him but this was rather thoughtful. Henry took a bite; it was better than he expected from Derek. 

"Do you want coffee?" Derek asked.

"Huh? Oh. Uhm... Sure. But we gotta hurry." Henry said swallowing his bite.

"Alright, how do you like it?"

"Dark with cream."

"Your usual, coming right up."

Henry was about to finish up his sandwich when he noticed Derek was wearing that shirt in the photo. It was still in just as good condition as if it was just bought. 

"Henry, are you OK?"

Henry snapped to attention and finished up his sandwich.

"A-Ah. Yeah. I'm just tired." Henry blurted, "Done making coffee?"

"Yeah, but we've got to take it with us." Derek said as he gave one of the mugs to Henry.

As they set out for the long journey back to the city, Henry thought maybe these mornings won't be so bad.

Henry felt his phone vibrating in his pocket during a red light. His heart jumped when he saw Meatly's name on the caller ID. Had he gotten the call time completely wrong?

"Hello?" Henry answered.

He said nothing as he listened to the other end.

Derek did not like the face Henry was making, "Something wrong...?"

Henry hung up and shouted, "You have got to be-"


	5. Help Wanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The show must go on when half of the crew bails out.

Meatly was strong for a puppet. That shouldn't have been the first thought to cross Henry's mind considering the situation, but he couldn't help it as he watched Meatly rushing a big, heavy C-stand across the floor as soon as he and Derek entered the studio.

 

Meatly's words over the phone were panicked for sure, but Henry still wasn't prepared for what he saw in the studio: Nothing. This was a low-budget production, but even then, there was supposed to be a full crew lined up. Instead, Henry only saw Meatly on the move. He was making his way to Val, who was setting up some lighting with a blonde woman in a blue dress.

 

Meatly started to lose his balance. Henry bolted, catching the C-stand before it fell on top of Meatly. Val and the unidentified woman rushed over.

 

“Th-Thank you, Henry...” Meatly gasped for breath.

 

“Need help?” Henry asked, knowing very well what the answer would be.

 

“ _Yes._ ”

 

“I heard from Henry half of the crew bailed out on you. What happened?” Derek asked, scratching his head.

 

“The damn horny kids abandoned us for a smut film!” Val grumbled.

 

Henry was about to make an appointment to get his ears checked because he hoped he heard Val wrong.

 

“Yeah, our cinematographer knows the director, and he offered us a lot more money at the last minute to work on his project instead.” The blonde woman shook her head. “Val, Clay, and I are the only ones that said no.”

 

“So let me get this straight,” Toby said in a huff, “they'd rather work with boobs than monsters!?”

 

“Well, they were boobs themselves.” an older black man shrugged.

 

Toby chuckled, “Good one, Clayton.”

 

“So I went to all this trouble to come out here and we can't even shoot?” Derek whined.

 

Henry shot Derek a look. “Who was the one driving?”

 

“We have to keep this thing moving.” Said Meatly, “Renting out this studio ate up half of our budget!”

 

“OK, cool story, bro. But _how_ are we going to keep moving?” Bendy slithered up to the group without warning, which he would be doing plenty of in the script that he held.

 

Meatly looked around at everyone gathered. “I hate to ask this of our actors,” he said, glancing between Henry, Derek, Bendy, Toby, and Boris, “but I think between you guys and our remaining crew, we might be able to pull this off if there's anything you can do behind the camera when you're not on-screen.”

 

The room was silent for a few minutes.

 

“I mean,” Toby spoke up, “I did a little bit of everything in theater. I could help with lights.”

 

“Need camera help or a quick fix? Sign me up!” Boris said.

 

“I've got pretty good arms, I can help with heavy work.” Henry added.

 

“Hey, I could use a younger set of hands!” Val chuckled, “I ain't what I used to be.”

 

Meatly's shoulders seemed to drop to the floor.

 

“ _Thank you._ ” He sighed, “Now let's shoot this thing!”

 


	6. Premiere Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the first episode of Bendy and the Ink Machine done, it is a time for celebration.

_“Henry...?”_

 

I opened my eyes to find myself in an empty hallway, everything covered in what looked like a pulsing, inky slime. As I got up, I realized my body was just as slimy and ink black.

 

“Wha... What the hell?” I shivered, staring at my hands.

 

The first instinct I had was to just run, but where would I have gone in this place? Why was I here? Was I dreaming...? I put all those thoughts in the back of my head and walked slowly through the inky hall, not knowing where it'd take me.

 

As I walked further and further, I heard voices. Familiar voices. They sounded like they were trying to say something but I couldn't piece it together because the voices were hushed and barely audible. But somehow, I felt like I knew who was talking. As I kept walking, the voices became more bitter and grew louder but were still dissonant.

 

_“....you...do this...”_

 

_“..idiot......”_

 

_“........a child........”_

 

Soon enough, I remembered a time I desperately wanted to forget. Without thinking, I ran. But the suffocating fear made it hard for me to breathe while running and the voices kept growing louder until they seemed to be screaming.

 

_“..rek...”_

 

_“De..k...”_

 

_“Derek!”_

 

“Derek, wake up!”

 

I shot up in a cold sweat to the sound of Henry's voice and him shaking me awake.

 

“Hu-huh!? What!?”

 

“We're at Toby's house. Did you have a good nap?”

 

“Ah... Yeah, I did.” I lied.

 

“You sure?” Henry asked. “You look a little pale, buddy...”

 

Henry was always able to read people like an open book. I guess his Life Drawing classes really gave him good observation skills.

 

“I just had a nightmare. Nothing serious.”

 

“Derek, I know you. When you have nightmares you take it as a sign that things are wrong...” Henry said as he put a hand on my shoulder. “You want to talk about it?”

 

I brushed his hand away.

 

“Well, yeah, I still have an issue or two I need to work out but they're problems you can't exactly fix...”

 

“Just promise me you'll take it seriously if you're going to try and solve it on your own.”

 

Henry's eyes grew misty.

 

“I don't want to see you break down again...”

 

“...I promise.”

 

“Come on.” Henry said as he got out of the car, “Everyone is probably waiting.”

 

I caught up to Henry as he knocked on the door.

 

Toby opened the door with a smile.

 

“Hey guys! You're just in time! The snacks just came out of the oven.”

 

“You bake?” Henry asked.

 

“Sometimes. It's Lucas that does more of the baking.”

 

“Haha. I guess now I know why you were taking orders from everyone.”

 

“Gotta do something for everyone, ya know?” Toby chuckled.

 

“What did you guys make?” Bendy nearly gave me a heart attack as he slithered up from behind Henry and me. “Your house smells amazing!”

 

“What did we _not_ make? Toasted jalapeno points, sugar cookies, some sandwiches... The list goes on!”

 

“You sound like you were busy.” Boris laughed as he followed us in.

 

“I had to time this right to make sure the baked stuff was still warm when you guys came by.”

 

“You did your part well, if I do say!” Boris said as he put a container on the snack table.

 

“Oh. I didn't think you'd actually bring something!” Toby chuckled as he inspected its contents.

 

“It's Monday night and Boris makes his best dessert every time!” Bendy giggled as he licked his lips.

 

Boris laughed as he grabbed a cookie from a platter.

 

“Bendy, it's just an Apple Brown Betty. But I can't blame you for loving it.”

 

It felt like someone was missing. I scanned the room, and it finally hit me. “Huh... Where's the director?”

 

“He has a name, Derek.” Bendy grumbled.

 

“Oh yeah. Mister Muppet told me he'd be a little late.” Toby said as he flopped on the couch. “He said the video's taking longer to upload than he thought.”

 

Someone lightly knocked at the door.

 

“Is that probably him?” Henry asked as he opened the door to see Meatly.

 

“Yup, it is probably me!” Meatly beamed.

 

“Hey! Got the premiere set up?” Toby asked.

 

“It should be premiering in thirty minutes!” Meatly said.

 

Time passed until it was roughly 5 minutes until premiere time. I was at the edge of my seat waiting for the result of Meatly and Mike's work. It didn't help that this was the first time Henry and I acted together since college.

 

“Oh man, my first time in a web series!” Bendy bounced in his seat.

 

“Ahem! _Our_ first time in a web series, Bendy” Boris said with a smirk.

 

“Haha, right.”

 

“It's about to start! Let's count it down!” Meatly said excitedly.

 

“Five!”

 

“Four!”

 

“Three!

 

“Two!”

 

“You are offline,” said the now blank white video page.

 

Everyone's jaw dropped to the floor.

 

“Aw, what the hell!?” Bendy screamed in disbelief. “I sat in an overpriced bus for two hours for this!?”

 

Toby had murder in his face, “Oh, he'd better not.”

 

He then ran up the stairs and sounded like he whipped open a door.

 

“Lucas, what are you doing!? Are you downloading boobs again!?”

 

“Ouch. Busted.” I muttered.

 

“Well stop hogging the bandwidth and let us have our premiere party!” Toby said, slamming the door.

 

When Toby came back down he refreshed the page and the premiere resumed. We missed the beginning of course, but we caught up with the chat which was filled with awe and fascination. After the credits rolled, everyone was wanting more and we gave ourselves a round of applause for the hard work we put into the episode, despite the odds.

 

“That was totally wicked!” Bendy screeched.

 

“You really gave me a scare on set, little buddy.” Henry chuckled, “But it worked for the scene.”

 

“Method acting at it's finest!” Meatly commented.

 

“My college professor would have said the same thing.”

 

After some banter and snacking, our group left the house one by one until me, Henry, Meatly, and Toby remained.

 

“Thanks for holding the premiere party! It was a good idea to hook up your laptop to the TV.” Meatly said looking up at Toby.

 

“I wanted it to feel special, ya know?” Toby chuckled.

 

“Well, I'll see you all back in the studio later. Until we meet again!”

 

“See ya.” Henry said as he waved.

 

I yawned as I felt myself almost falling asleep on the couch. “Hey Henry, we should probably go home soon.”

 

“Ah right, we have a long drive ahead.”

 

I got up from the couch, followed Henry out the door and into his car.

 

“You know Henry, it feels great to act with you again.” I said groggily.

 

“Yeah, it really is.” Henry chuckled.

 

“Feels like old times back in college.”

 

“Too bad our professor is no longer with us to see how far we've come...” Henry sighed.

 

“Yeah... I wonder what he would have thought.”

 

“Derek, he knew effort when he saw it. But if you're serious, he would have had that big grin on his face.”

 

“He always loved passionate people who were willing to put their heart in their work.”

 

We laughed and talked more about our late professor and how great of a man he was for the rest of the way to my house. Without him, I don't think we would have further pursued acting. When we arrived at my house and said our goodbyes I made a beeline for my room and fell like a log onto my bed. I felt myself melt into my bed as I drifted off to sleep.

 

“Maybe tomorrow will be a better day...” I thought to myself as I closed my eyes.

 


	7. The Green Eyed Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry enjoys a chance encounter with one of his favorite stage actors.

It's been a while since I've seen a performance by Cecil Darling. I never miss anything he's in. Or, at least, I try not to. I don't know what it is about him, but he has an intimidating charm to him. His performances give me and his followers shivers every time from his frightening roles to his lovely operas.

 

As the final act came to a close and the actors took their bows, my two friends and I walked out to get a glass of beer at the concession stand. As we drank we talked about the play, how our jobs were going, and what we were going to do on the weekend.

 

“I think I'm gonna take my wife and my little boy downtown to see a movie!” said one of my friends, Annette.

 

“That sounds fun, I hope it's a good one.” I replied.

 

“How are the commissions going for ya, Henry?” Said my other friend, Drake. “Ya know, now that you're a bit more famous?”

 

“Well, I'm certainly gaining more traction now. I think I've gotten maybe... 3 or 4 now.” I chuckled.

 

“Heeey! That's great to hear!” Drake said as he took a sip of water, “Got any of them done?”

 

“I just need to finish coloring the last one and then I'll be done.”

 

“Great!”

 

“Excuse me?” said a muffled voice.

 

I turned to see a man in a mask. Recoiling with a screech, I fell straight on my butt, spilling my beer in the process.

 

“Oh... It is you.”

 

“Huh? That's a weird thing to say to someone that just fell down.” I said as I stood up.

 

“Wait a minute...” the man said as he felt his face, seeming to realize his mask is still on. “Oh blast it... Hang on.”

 

The man took off his mask to reveal his dusky blonde hair and signature scarily green eyes, as if they were the eyes of a monster's.

 

“Cecil?!”

 

“Oh? You recognize me?”

 

“Recognize you? I come to every performance I can!”

 

Cecil chuckled.

 

“I didn't know you were such a big fan of mine, Henry.”

 

I shivered a bit.

 

“How do you know my name?”

 

“You and your little “Bendy” show are quite the talk on the internet right now.” he said in a tone that struck me as a little condescending. But still, I was speechless, getting recognized by Cecil Darling of all people.

 

“How is that going by the way?” Cecil said.

 

“Oh!” I blurted out, “There's a casting call going on for the second chapter currently.”

 

“Really? What's the role?”

 

“Uhhh... Some guy named Sammy Lawrence. He sounds pretty creepy from what I've read in the script so far.”

 

“I like creepy. How creepy?”

 

“I dunno how much I'm allowed to say, but I would not want to be in the same room as him.”

 

We both laughed.

 

“Any luck?”

 

“On the casting call? Ehh... Not really. We haven't found anybody who was fit for the part yet.” I sighed.

 

“Oh dear.”

 

“Yeah...”

 

“Well, let's hope that you find the right man to fill the role.” Cecil said with his hand to his chin.

 

I smiled back at him, “I'm sure we will.”

 

“Well, I have to go now, it's getting very late. If you've been to this theater enough, you know how pushy they are about closing time. Good luck, Henry.”

 

He sounded like he might have been interested in the role, but I can't really see Cecil pursing film. He seemed more at home on the theater stage rather than the silver screen. I may be wrong.

 


	8. Alice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bendy and Boris are visited by a neighbor.

Boris didn't mind doing most of the house work. He was used to helping look after half a dozen siblings back in the day and if it had taught him anything, it was how to keep a shared space clean. Besides, Bendy was a little too short to reach the sink for dishes or to handle the vacuum, as Boris was doing now.

 

“Boris! Turn the stupid thing off!” Bendy shouted as he busted through the bedroom door.

 

Boris rolled his eyes and turned the vacuum off.

 

“It's too early for this noise!”

 

Boris gave Bendy a confused look, “It's 5 PM, you've been sleeping for two days!”

 

Bendy somehow turned paler than he already was.

 

“I have been _what_!?”

 

Boris started howling with laughter.

 

“I'm just kidding! It's 11 AM and it's Sunday.”

 

“You made me think I was in a coma! Don't ever do that again!” Bendy growled.

 

“Well, you would be if I didn't wake you up!” Boris laughed.

 

“Why do you even need me up? Didn't you finish the chores?”

 

“You need to read your script. I took out the vacuum because it's the only thing that wakes you up.”

 

Bendy mumbled sleepily to himself as he walked to the kitchen to make some coffee. After making coffee and booting up his laptop, he suddenly got hit with inspiration as he opened up digital notebook to start writing his own script. It was for a comedy sketch show that Boris and Bendy make for the internet. Being in a miniseries certainly took some time away from working on it.

 

“Bendy, you're supposed to be reading the script, not write a new one.” Boris sighed.

 

“Shush! I got hit by the inspiration bug and I wanna get it down before I forget it!”

 

Boris didn't even want to argue about it. Once Bendy got to writing something it's hard to make him stop. So he just sat down to read the script himself.

 

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

 

Boris got up to see who was knocking.

 

“Who's there?”

 

“It's Alice!”

 

Boris opened the door to let a Toon angel in.

 

“Alice Angel! How was your little trip?”

 

“It was nice! I got to see my Dad and catch up with him. Oh! Almost forgot!”

 

Alice reached into her bag to take out a couple of DVDs.

 

“I came by to return these to you two!”

 

“Oh, thank you. Bendy was itching to watch one of them.”

 

“Hi, Angel!” Bendy waved to Alice, not taking his eyes off his laptop.

 

“I've heard you two have been bitten by the acting bug!” Alice giggled, “Even more than you already were.”

 

“Yeah, we got into a miniseries not too long ago.” Boris said as he sat back down on the couch.

 

“I'm guessing I ran into you reading your script?”

 

“Yeah but Bendy is too busy writing _his own_.”

 

“I'll lose it if I stop now, shut up!” Bendy squawked.

 

“We should leave him be, he gets pretty cranky when he doesn't finish his script.”

 

“ _I'm cranky now_.”

 

Boris shrugged and continued to read his script.

 

“Well, if you're co-star's bailed on you, maybe I can help you run your lines.” Alice said.

 

“I dunno Alice, I signed an NDA and everything.”

 

“I won't tell if you won't.”

 

Not wanting to seem rude, Boris just let her help him. It was easier than trying to get Bendy out of his trance.

 

Half an hour later, they finished reading the script.

 

“I gotta say, this seems like a spookfest!” Alice commented.

 

“Oh my _god_ , are you guys done yet!? I can't even think!” Bendy screeched.

 

“You could have just read it with me.” Boris sighed.

 

“If anything opens up, please tell let me know! I love where this is going!” Alice said.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Now shoo!” Bendy tried to wave Alice away.

 

Bendy tried to write another sentence but he just stared into the screen, trying to think of what to write next. Then it hit him that he lost the very end of what he wanted to write for the script. He screamed into his hands in defeat.

 

“Lost it?” Boris asked.

 

“No thanks to you two.” Bendy said through his teeth.

 

“Then maybe you should have just read your script.”

 

“Fine, I will now!” Bendy groaned as he picked up his script.

 

“Or maybe take a break? I don't think reading while angry is a good thing.” Alice said.

 

Bendy tossed his script to the side.

 

“Yeah, I need to cool off...”

 

“Well, the next shoot is not until a few more days... Oh, what the hell, take a break.” Boris shrugged, “Want me to make tea?”

 

“Do we have more of that tea Alice got us for Christmas?”

 

“I dunno if we do...”

 

Boris went into the kitchen to look for the tea.

 

“So, about the miniseries you're in. Are you having fun with it?” Alice asked.

 

“Huh? Oh! Yeah, I am! I think I made a new friend there too! Well, two actually.” Bendy said excitedly.

 

“Awww! I'm proud of you! Boris was starting to worry you'd have a hard time making friends here.”

 

“Yeah, well, what can ya do? All my friends were back home so... ya know?” Bendy sighed.

 

“Who are these two friends?”

 

“Well, there's this guy named Toby who's kinda scrawny and is really into Splatoon. Hell, he has a replica of the Part-Time Pirate shirt! I asked him how he got it and get this, _a friend of his made it_.”

 

“Sounds like he's in a cosplay group.”

 

“He is! He and his roommates are all Splatoon fans and made a small group based on it. Their cosplay quality is _insane_.”

 

Alice giggled, “And who's this other person?”

 

“His name's Henry! He mostly does art for a living. Apparently he's been struggling for a while after college, both in art and acting. But his art is hit hardest and what he's more passionate about. He barely made a lot first time I met him.”

 

“I'm guessing this hot new miniseries gave him some traction?”

 

“Oh yeah.” Bendy nodded happily, “He seems to really like me. I was actually really shy to talk to anybody on the set outside of the director but he got me out of my shell.”

 

“Hey, we don't have anymore of that tea but I did find more Earl Grey.” Boris said bringing in the tea.

 

“Awesome.”

 

“So how's your little theater make-up career going, Alice?” asked Boris.

 

“Horrible!” Alice said in a huff, “I almost got sucked into this company called 'Edyn' and I was about invest my money into it. Until my hero of a dad told me it was a scam!”

 

“Oh, was it an MLM thing?” Bendy asked.

 

“What's an MLM?” Boris asked Bendy.

 

“Multi Level Marketing. Basically, a pyramid scheme.”

 

“I swear, if I knew where their building was I would have marched in there and demanded some answers!” Alice grumbled.

 

“Let it go, Angel. You'll break out in hives.”

 

“This was just yesterday, I'm not ready to let it go!

 

“OK then...”

 

“Well, we had a make-up artist but I don't think they're coming back for another shoot.” Boris said sipping some tea.

 

“That's a shame...” Alice sighed.

 

Bendy suddenly had an idea. An idea that'll hopefully get Alice out of her rut. He grinned widely.

 

“Hey! Alice! Maybe there's a position open to do the make-up on set!” he beamed.

 

“What? Me!? But I'm fresh out of school!” Alice said in a flustered giggle.

 

“What does it matter!?” Bendy threw his arms up, “I'll bet you'll do _awesome_!”

 

“Haha... Oh, alright then! Who do I contact?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading. I'd like to thank my beloved boyfriend, Chris J. for co-writing and teaching me a thing or two about how the film industry works. I would have been very lost without that.


End file.
